“Face to Face”

“Faces”

I’m not sure of the year, but it was a first in my house, our first TV…..Let me start by explaining when all 10 of us gathered around the kitchen table in the evening to listen to the radio the first rule was not to laugh at jokes or make any comments that might drown out the radio which was hard enough to hear in the first place. My father always gave us “the look” to quell our laughter. We knew better than to disturb his listening so he wouldn’t miss the next line which he wouldn’t laugh at anyways no matter how funny it was. He never laughed out loud, he just smiled, he did not allow disruption of a program by anyone. Now back to the very important piece of furniture, the new TV. We had a lot of people and a very small living room. A couch, two chairs and blue glass end tables with white doilies and the new 17inch TV. A wooden fireplace painted white with flowers set in place of burning logs. A picture of my brother who was killed in WWII and his last Christmas card to my mother stood on the mantle of the fireplace. I think my father made the fireplace just for these items. It was Milton Berle night with constant TV scratching noises, snowy screen. We had to have all the lights off, my father said we could see it better in the dark. Being the youngest I landed on the ottoman in the doorway between the dark living room and the dark dinning room. The ottoman I was sitting on was just six inches from the front door next to the big floor register that heated the entire house turning on and off making a clicking whooshing sound. The show began, my father smiled, my family settled in for a great hour of TV. I heard the doorknob turn while the front door creaked open. I looked to my right to the front door. There in the night was a face, a black face. Not old but older than I was. He must have been on hands and knees as he had to look up to see me. He looked at me, I looked down at him, seemed like an eternity but it must only have been seconds. He reached up to the doorknob and pulled the door closed. I caught my breath, watched the door close and went back to watching Milton Berle. I wonder what that face thought of me? I wonder if he remembers my face as I remember his? I didn’t disturb the show that was the important thing. After all it was just a moment in time we were face to face.